Okaz/Saudi Gazette RIYADH — Nimr Baqer Al-Nimr, the main instigator of sectarian strife in the Eastern Province, who was executed on Saturday among the 47 terrorists, had admitted to 20 of the charges leveled against him in the Criminal Court by the prosecutor general. Al-Nimr was defiant during the 17 court sessions which began in May 2014 and attended by his lawyer and some of his brothers. Al-Nimr, a renown Shiite who was preaching hatred against Sunni citizens and attacking the Prophet's Companions, denied that he had any allegiance to the country's ruler and said the Saudi leadership had no legitimacy to remain in power. He alleged that the Saudi scholars have messed up with the Shariah, described the judicial system as unfair and said the security men were not more than street gangs. The list of charges against him included seeding dissension, instigating citizens against the state, stirring sectarian troubles in Al-Awamiyah town in Qatif in 2011 which killed a number of security men and innocent civilians and continuously calling for the Saudi regime to be toppled. Though he was eloquent in his hateful preaching during his sermons while leading Friday prayers, Al-Nimr had no formal education beyond intermediate. He was also accused of undermining the national unity, harboring a number of wanted Shiites and exhorting Saudi citizens to disobey their rulers. During all his hearings, Al-Nimr used to defy the court and attack its judges describing them as unjust and incompetent. He tried several times to delay the court sessions through various phony pretexts. Al-Nimr would sometimes say he did not recognize the legitimacy of the court and at other times he would refuse to give his written reply to the charges against him. On one occasion he said he did not trust his lawyer though he had appointed him and on another he would ask for a pen and paper to complete his replies which he had already approved when they were read out to him by the judge. Al-Nimr was also accused of meeting several times after Friday prayers with seven of the 23 terrorists on the list of wanted criminals issued by the Interior Ministry. He was also charged with being the mastermind of sectarian riots in Qatif and demonstrations at Al-Baqi cemetery in Madinah. In 1980, Al-Nimr traveled to the Iranian city of Qum where he stayed for a long time before moving to Syria and returning to the Kingdom. The list of charges against him also included calling for sectarian unrest in Bahrain and attacking Al-Jazira Shield forces.
